1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to establishing social relationships and more particularly to an initiator for apprising a potential social companion of one's interest in pursuing an encounter.
2. Related History
Often, at various social occasions, awkward situations have developed when a person has attempted to initiate a social relationship by engaging in conversation while the intended participant had no interest in pursuing any relationship. Additionally, shy people were inhibited from approaching another person for embarrassment and fear of rejection.
A need therefore developed for providing a preconversation visual indication of a prospective conversant's interest in talking with or establishing a relationship with another person. The provision of a visual indicator of an intended recipient's desire to engage in social conversation and/or establish a transitory or permanent social relationship with another would render initiation of an initial encounter less awkward, and would especially provide a shy or inhibited person an inclination to proceed, knowing in advance, the intended participant's favorable initial reaction.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,344, a mood indicating pendant in the form of a miniature traffic light was disclosed. The pendant was wearer actuatable to display either a red, yellow or green traffic signal as an indication of the wearer's mood. Among the attributes of the pendant disclosed in the patent was that by providing an outward indication of the mood of the user, endless hours of polite sparring and discussion would be saved, and thus, use of the pendant would result in energy conservation.
The traffic light pendant did not gain widespread acceptance, or for that matter, little is known as to whether or not it was ever commercialized. Among the inherent disadvantages of the traffic light pendant was that it provided only three indicia signals and no intermediate comparative levels reflecting the mood or inclination of the wearer were available. Additionally, the device was not easily resettable and required manual manipulation. Further, and especially for shy individuals, the wearing of a traffic light may have provided a source of embarrassment and thus a deterrent to usage.